Two opera companies, two very different mandates, and one big question: how do you build an opera future that feels both ambitious and welcoming? We sit down with Gordon Gerrard, newly appointed artistic director of Manitoba Opera and continuing artistic director of City Opera Vancouver, to talk about what he wants to protect, what he wants to change, and what he’s excited to try next. 

Gordon takes us from a childhood on a rural Manitoba farm to collaborative piano training in New York, where opera and art song became a lifelong obsession. We dig into the moment he realized the same opera can land in completely different ways depending on the space, from a 2,300 seat hall to an intimate room where every facial expression reads, and why that insight still shapes how he thinks about programming, casting, and audience experience. 

From there, we get specific about what’s ahead. City Opera Vancouver is leaning into chamber opera and new commissions, including a major work exploring Canada’s LGBT purge, developed with a partnerships that connect directly to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, just down the street from his new role at Manitoba Opera. Back in Winnipeg, Gordon shares how he plans to listen first, balance classics with contemporary work, and think seriously about what it means to be Manitoba Opera, not just a Winnipeg company. 

All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Visit OperaCanada.ca for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.